University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns: Baseball
4/2/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
 |
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Cajuns Offense Comes Alive
Behind Strong Performance From Faught in
Saturday, April 2, 2005
JONESBORO, Ark. – Senior second baseman Justin Merendino hit his second two-run home run in as many games and senior starting pitcher Austin Faught shut down the opposition, leading the No. 17-ranked Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns (24-6, 3-2 Sun Belt) to a 6-1 victory over the Arkansas State Indians (20-9, 2-3 Sun Belt) here Saturday afternoon at Tomlinson Stadium. Louisiana-Lafayette starting pitcher Austin Faught (5-0) earned his fifth win of the season. Faught went six innings, scattering three hits with three walks and two strikeouts. The win is Faught's first victory since March 13 against the St. John's Red Storm and also surpasses his season win total from 2003 when he went 4-3 in nine starts. Arkansas State starting pitcher Blake Ring (4-4) received the loss. Ring allowed six runs on seven hits with a walk and four strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings. Louisiana-Lafayette plated two runs in the third inning to take a 2-0 lead. After Jameson Parker flied out to left field, Justin Merendino doubled to left field. John Coker followed with an RBI single through the left side to give the Ragin' Cajuns a 1-0 lead. Coker advanced to second on the throw and advanced to third on a throwing error by ASU left fielder Isaac Dillon. Josh Landry then laid down a sacrifice squeeze bunt and reached on a fielder's choice to score Coker to give the Cajuns a 2-0 advantage. Dallas Morris fouled out to first to end the inning. Louisiana-Lafayette hung a three-spot on the Indians in the fourth to increase its lead to 5-0. With one on and one out, Justin Morgan delivered an opposite-field single down the right field line, advancing Phillip Hawke to third base. Parker's sacrifice fly to center field plated Hawke, giving the Cajuns a 3-0 advantage. Merendino then cleared the bases with a two-run home run and his fourth of the season, increasing the Cajuns' lead to five runs. Coker then reached on a Chris Rich throwing error and advanced to second, but was left stranded after Landry flied out to left field to end the inning. Faught retired the first 10 Indians batters he faced, until Mike Sirianni dropped a bloop-single between Landry and Parker with one out in the fourth inning. Faught retired the next two Indians batters to end the inning. Faught got into a bit of a jam in the fifth, but was able to get out of the inning and maintain a five-run advantage. Hudson Smart sent a lead-off double to left-center field. Smart later advanced to third on a Brad Burkhead ground out. With two outs, Dillon walked to put runners at the corners for the Indians, but Chris Prothro lined out to Merendino to end the inning. The Cajuns added another run in the sixth. Merendino's sacrifice push bunt plated Morgan, giving the Cajuns a 6-0 lead. It was Merendino's third RBI of the day and his fifth RBI of the series. Arkansas State made one more offensive threat in the sixth, but was unable to come away with any runs. After Sirianni drew a one-out walk, Rich singled to left field, advancing Sirianni to third. Geoff Desmond ended the threat, grounding into a 6-4-3 double play. In the seventh, Dallas Morris snapped his 20-game hitting streak. Morris finished the afternoon 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and two fly outs. Senior shortstop Micah Cockrell, who did not play in Saturday's game, now owns the Cajuns' longest active hitting streak which is at eight games. After Stephen Tharp came on to pitch for the Indians with one out in the sixth inning, the Cajuns were unable to put a runner on base for the rest of the game, as Tharp retired 11 consecutive Cajuns batters. With one on and no out in the seventh inning, freshman and Clinton, La. native Hunter Moody entered the game, relieving Faught. Moody struck out the first batter he faced – Burkhead – for the first out of the inning. After a Keith Kull, Jr. single, Moody forced Dillon into another 6-4-3 double play. Moody went 1 2/3 innings, allowing one run on three hits with a walk and a strikeout. Cockrell shut down the Indians over the last 1 1/3 innings, allowing just one base runner. Arkansas State finally plated its first run of the game in the eighth inning. Desmond's RBI single to right field plated Brett Kinning, cutting the Cajuns' lead to 6-1, but that would be all that the Indians get muster. Merendino led the Cajuns offensively, going 2-for-3 with two runs scored and three RBI. Morgan went 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Six different Indians batters registered a hit. Desmond went 1-for-4 with one RBI. Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns will conclude their three-game Sun Belt Conference series with the rubber-match against Arkansas State on Sunday here at Tomlinson Stadium. Freshman right-handed pitcher Buddy Glass (2-1, 4.26 ERA) will get the start for the Cajuns against Arkansas State left-handed pitcher Ryan Bishop (3-0, 3.49 ERA). First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
Louisiana-Lafayette 6, Arkansas State 1 (Apr
02, 2005 at Jonesboro, Ark.)
Win-Faught, A(5-0) Loss-Ring(4-4) T-2:34
A-728 -Ragin' Cajuns- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
